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The problem with being in the ass-end of nowhere, Justin Foley decided, was that once you were there, you were well and truly stranded. It had been only three days into a five-day trip to visit Matt’s parents in the middle of wine country, and already the seventeen year-old was desperately wishing the elder Jensens actually owned a winery. Or even a row of bad grapes.
The trip was, in part, due to it being Mr. Jensen’s 75th birthday. Matt, being an only child, had planned on simply coming up for the weekend and celebrating with his parents, his wife and their sons. “They’re pretty cool,” Clay had told him as the pair had packed for the event. “Old-fashioned, but cool.”
Justin certainly hoped so. A few events with Lainie’s family proved…interesting, to say the least. He was definitely not fond of Lainie’s Aunt Lucinda, even though she seemed to harbor no ill will towards him. A trip to see her brother Lucas ended in disaster. “Is this some sort of penance, Lainie?” the man had said, thinking himself alone with Matt and Lainie after dinner. “You take in this kid, this…fledgling criminal, and…I dunno, reform him? I mean, think about Clay. You sure you’re not messing your real kid up with this…well, whatever this is?”
Lainie had never moved so fast in her life. Justin was still in shock at the bitch-slap the asshole had earned, and he believed Clay now wholeheartedly when he said his mom had been a hell of a softball pitcher. They had left that house within five minutes. No one minded much.
Upon arriving at the elder Jensen’s, however, the family’s hopes for a quiet weekend were dashed. It seemed that Mr. Jensen had a lot of brothers, and many of them were still around to wish the baby of their family a happy birthday. It meant that a large farmhouse was filled to the brim with cousins, second cousins, and relatives past what Justin could reasonably expect to remember in a single outing. What made things particularly bad was that this was Justin’s first appearance at a Jensen family event, and he was essentially being thrown off the deep end.
“I’m so sorry,” Matt had said once the four of them had managed to stake out a back-bedroom that had been forgotten in the recesses as theirs for the duration. “I forgot. Milestone birthdays draw out my cousins and their parents like moths to flame.”
“It’s okay,” Justin had said. “Crash course, right?”
Matt had smiled, ruffling his younger son’s hair. “Come on. Mom’s been anxious to meet you.”
Justin had taken a deep breath and made his way downstairs. He had fidgeted a bit with his shirt. His hair was mussed, and he had this urge to make sure they were all back in place. He could feel the dozens of pairs of eyes staring at him, saying what voices surely weren’t.
“Matthew, it’s good to see you,” Mrs. Jensen had said, giving her only son a hug. “Your dad’s in the barn, hiding from the relatives again.”
“Hi, Mom. Oh, I’d like you to meet Justin. Justin, this is my mother. Your grandmother, now.”
“Hello, Mrs. Jensen. It’s nice to meet you…”
The short, plump woman pulled the scrawny teenager into a giant hug. “Ellen. Or, if you’re of a mind, Nana. Lord knows I’ve had the practice with Clay.”
“Ellen.” Justin turned on the million dollar smile. “Nana might take some getting used to.”
“Matthew says good things about you, Justin. An athlete, yes?”
“Yeah. I play basketball.” The smile grew wider. “Pretty good, too.”
“You’re getting on well with Clay?”
“Better than that,” Justin had said.
“I promise, Nana, he’s doing fine,” Clay had said, extricating himself from the gaggle of younger distant cousins. “Eats like we don’t feed him, though…”
“Shut up!”
Ellen shook her head, then patted her both her grandsons on the cheek. “Both of you, now, get in there and mingle. And find your grandfather while you’re at it!”
Justin sighed. Ellen was great. He himself had never had grandparents. Or, if he did, he’d never met them. His birth mother was not much for extended family. She’d barely been there for him.
His mind wandered back to the second day, when the word had spread through the extended Jensen clan that Matt and Lainie had decided to adopt a seventeen year-old. Once the news had hit, it felt like every corner hid scampering children. He heard hushed conversations suddenly stop when he crossed paths with certain relatives. The stares of people felt like a weight on him he couldn’t shake.
“Clay, how much do your relatives know about me?” Justin had finally asked towards dinnertime.
“I don’t know. Why?”
A grimace crept across the younger boy’s face. “I dunno. It just…it feels like everyone’s…judging me, I guess?”
Clay had shrugged. “I don’t know what Mom and Dad told them. I just tell the kids that I got a new brother, and I got to pick him out.” A smile appeared on the older boy’s face. “That kinda shuts them up.”
“Oh.”
Things went better after that, until today. Justin had been headed out to the barn when he caught Matt in a heated conversation with what he remembered as an older uncle.
“Matthew, you’re a bleeding heart,” the man, who Justin remembered was called Elias, said sharply. “Your dad told us about the boy. How could you? I mean…drugs? Criminal charges?” A balding head of silver hair shook slowly, as though disappointed. “This isn’t like a puppy, Matthew.”
“I’m aware, Uncle Elias. Lainie and I knew what we were getting into when we made this decision. Clay actually was the one who decided we should.”
“And you have him to think of,” another voice chimed in. Justin stayed hidden behind a massive tree as he watched the story unfold. “I mean, it’s noble you’re doing your part, but this isn’t like it was in our parents' time. What if the boy’s family comes back for him?”
Matt shook his head violently. “Not an issue. The adoption was finalized two weeks ago. Even if they did, it’s too late. He’s ours now, always.” The statement had made Justin feel validated; as though he really did belong with these people, in this place.
“Matt, I can’t say I’m…comfortable with him being around my girls. We heard about that case down by your place. Susan followed it religiously. And to think, Clay was involved in that? And this new kid of yours…”
“He has a name, Joseph.”
The younger man, Joseph, apparently, shook his head. “I mean, what the hell? Is this what it’s like up north? Suicide? Schools turned into hunting grounds? And then this…”
Justin didn’t stay to hear the rest. He slunk backwards, searching for the nearest hiding place. The old barn stood in front of him, and he cautiously crept inside.
As he sat in the old straw and hay, Justin felt a weight crushing his chest. Would he constantly be running from his mistakes for the rest of his life? He had spent the past month hearing his new parents defending their choice to adopt him to their own families. Would he ever just be accepted by more than Matt, Lainie, Clay and their friends?
A tear rolled down Justin’s face, and then another. Outside, the sounds of car engines firing and tires grinding against sand and gravel carried on. After a few minutes, it was silent. Then the old barn door creaked open, and sunlight beamed a path towards his hiding place.
“Come on out, boy,” a deep, gravelly voice said. “No need to hide anymore.”
Wiping his face, Justin pulled himself slowly out of the straw. He stood up and found himself staring into the face of old Mr. Jensen himself. “H-hello,” he said shakily. “I’m sorry I…”
“Sorry for what?” the man said, clapping a thick, calloused hand onto Justin’s back. “No, Justin, it’s my damned-fool brothers that should be sorry. And not even all of them. But the ones I’m angry at…they know who they are.”
“Yeah, but…I mean, I…”
“You came to spend a weekend with an old man. Your grandfather, now.” Justin felt himself being guided towards an old wooden chair, and a short little man sat comfortably in a second nearby. “And I’ve been hiding in this old barn for most of it.” He smiled at the boy. “Truth be told, I’m not fond of most of my brothers. A lot of them are still upset that our parents adopted me.”
“You?” Justin was dumbfounded. “But…there’s like…a sh- I mean, a lot of you!”
“Fifteen of us. All boys. My mother wanted a girl so much. But me, I was actually her sister’s child. She died young, you see, and her…well, my birth father was a bit of a scoundrel. I didn’t know him, and she died when I was two. My parents adopted me, and that was that.”
“Really? They didn’t have to, like, look for your dad or anything?” Justin remembered the months-long search for his birth mother. It had been agonizing, for him and for his family. His birth father hadn’t been an issue. After seventeen years of being absent, his rights were quickly terminated for abandonment.
“No. Back then, they only looked if they were on the birth certificate. He…wasn’t. No way to prove paternity, so…”
“Oh.” Green eyes looked into bluish-hazel ones. “But your brothers…”
“We got on well enough. Some of the younger ones, the ones close to me in age, were jealous. “Another mouth to feed,” Mr. Jensen said in a high, singsong voice. “My older brothers understood why Mom and Dad did it. You didn’t turn out family, not then anyway.” He took Justin’s hand in his. “My Matthew told us about what he was doing months ago. Ellen and I…we’re not big travelers, which is why we always had Clay come to see us for the summer. I wanted to know my grandchildren, you see, and until now that meant Clay. Now, it means you too.” Mr. Jensen smiled. “I know about your…hardships, Justin. Matt and Lainie told us. What I want to know is, have you learned from them?”
Justin nodded fiercely. “Yes, sir. I’m…I’m very lucky. My ex-girlfriend is still on good terms with me. And now…now I have a real family. My…my birth mother, she was kind of a scoundrel too.” Justin prided himself on knowing what that word meant. He’d paid attention to Matt when he’d talked about those old books of his.
“Good. Clay seems to like you. I suppose that’s good enough for me.” The little man stood up. “Now, I think you’ll find the place much quieter, seeing as Ellen threw out the rest of the family about an hour ago. And I do believe she’s making a turkey for dinner. With pie.”
“Sold!” Justin said, laughing. It felt good, getting to know his grandfather.
Clay was right, he thought. They are cool!